Dr. Harry Edwards’ Return to San Jose State

This spring, Harry Edwards personally delivered a framed photo of the iconic moment during the 1968 Olympic Games. Vice President for University Advancement Paul Lanning and Interim Director of Special Collections and Archives Rebecca Kohn accepted the addition to the Dr. Harry Edwards Collection: Sport, Society and Social Change. The Smithsonian Institution wanted photo of Spartans Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympics. Edwards believes it belongs at SJSU. SJSU Special Collections and Archives is located on the fifth floor of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library (Photo: David Schmitz).

Dr. Harry Edwards and his invited guests accompanied him on the shuttle to Spartan Stadium for the 2016 commencement ceremony, where Edwards was the commencement speaker and received an honorary doctorate (Photo: Terrell Lloyd).

Edwards donned regalia—over his “Just stop it!” T-shirt—in Spartan Stadium’s Gold Room. Lawrence Fan from SJSU Athletics Sports Information holds Edwards’ book The Sociology of Sport (Photo: Terrell Lloyd).

A proud grandfather, Edwards posed with his grandchildren (Photo: Terrell Lloyd).

Virginia Silveira helped Edwards sign up for classes when he arrived on campus as a student in the 1960s and was proud to attend Edwards’ hooding ceremony for his honorary doctorate. She celebrated her 100th birthday in 2016 (Photo: Terrell Lloyd).

Former 49ers linebacker and current vice president of football affairs, Keena Turner (left), Edwards and Earl Smith (right), the team pastor for the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers (Photo: Terrell Lloyd).

Edwards, who was a professor at UC Berkeley for more than 30 years, received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at this year’s commencement ceremony (Photo: Terrell Lloyd)

The 2016 commencement speaker’s advice to graduates: “You must move beyond the perimeter of what you know to the realm of what you dream" (Photo: Terrell Lloyd).

San Francisco 49ers co-owner and co-chairman, John York, was a member of the platform party (Photo: David Schmitz).

Following commencement, Edwards and his guests returned to campus for a tour and photos (Photo: David Schmitz).

Edwards’ family and friends walk through a changed campus toward King Library (Photo: David Schmitz).

Sandra Boze Edwards, Gayle Boze Knowles, Rochelle Duff and Mary East Noel (left to right) were all key members of the Olympic Project for Human Rights (Photo: Terrell Lloyd).

Kenneth Noel, ’66 BA, ’68 MA, Social Science, holds the Dr. Harry Edwards Collection information card in which he is pictured to the right of Edwards. The two men formed the United Black Students for Action in the mid-1960s. Noel ran track at San Jose State and was a nationally ranked middle-distance runner (Photo: David Schmitz).

Read more about the Dr. Harry Edwards Collection: Sport, Society and Social Change (Photo: Terrell Lloyd).